Feed control



Dec. 28', 1926.

l. E. M CABE FEED CONTROL Fil y 1. 1925 mi N 5 2 me M a A m ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 28, 1926.

IRA E. MCCABE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FEED CONTROL.

"Application filed May 1,

This invention relates to improvements in safety devices and more particularly to a gas or oil feed control.

It is an object of this invention to provide a burner system in which oil is pumped, gas is generated, or a combustible mixture formed by the operation of an electric motor, or electrically actuated mechanism, with a safety device which if the supply to the burners ceases for any reason the circuit providing the current for causing the supply will be instantly broken to prevent a reoccurrence of the supply escaping at the extinguished burner, and if the pressure at the burner becomes too great will also break the circuit'until the pressure becomes normal and then close it before the burner becomes extinguished.

With these and other objects in view reference is had to the accompanying sheet of drawing illustrating a preferred form of this invention with the understanding that minor detail changes may be made'without departing from the scope thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in cross section of a form of this invention in which the circuit has been broken by excessive pressure.

Figure 2 is a similar view of a slightly different form in which the circuit has been broken by a failure of the fuel supply.

Figure 3 is an enlargeddetail view of the supplementary operating link and releasable catch for the operating arm thereon.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view of the switch mechanism. I

For farm houses and other isolated building gas plants have been provided for -heat- .ing, lighting and other purposes and it is to such system this invention particularly relates although it may be used in an oil burner system as well and is capable of many other uses, therefore it is not restricted tothe uses hereinafter described.

Systems such as above mentioned usually comprise an electric motor operating a blowerfan forcing air through a carburetor for forming the combustible mixture which mixture is led from the carburetor to various burners at different locations within or adjacent the building. In such cases the tank ofoil or gasolene and carburetor are usually located outside the building with a pipe leading therefrom to supply the gas or com- 1925. seriarno. 27,209.

to blow and waste fuel also should for any reason the supply of fuel c ease while any of the burners are open and in use and then reoccur later the flames at the burners will at once be extinguished and upon the reoccurrence of the supply offuel will escape through the extinguished open burner.

In an oil burner system similar to the gas system just described or where several oil burners for other purposes are all fed from a single oil pump operated by an electric motor the necessary oil pressure varies with the number of burners operating and should the oil supply cease while any of the burners are operating and then reoccur the oil would escape through the extinguished burner. I

It is contemplated to place this improvedfeed control in the feed supply pipe between the carburetor or oil pump and burner, preferably within the building. Figure 1 illustrates one form of device for gas burner systems which consists of a casing or container 1 partially filled with water or other liquid 2 upon which floats an inverted dome or bell 3. Through the center of the bottom of the container 1 a pipe 4 leading from the gas or mixture supply conduit 5 from the carburetor 6 extends upward a short distance above the normal level of the liquid 2 and within the float 3. This pipe 4 leads from the mixture supply pipe between the source of mixtureand burners so that the pressure within the supply pipe will lift the hell 3. Preferably mounted on a bracket extending from the top of the container 1 is arranged a lever operated tilting mercury tube switch 7 in the main electric circuit 8-9 for operating the generating power for producing the gas or mixture and from which extends-an operating lever 10 so arranged that the upward movement of the hell 3, as excessive pressure causes it to raise, will engage the operating lever and cause the switch to tilt and break the circuit. The supply of gasor mixture being cut off as the burners exhaust the mixture within the bell, it will sink and the weight of the lever 10 cause the switch to tilt the other way and complete the circuit so that the supply is replenished and will continue until the pressure becomes too great and again breaks the circuit. By providing the parts in proper proportion the device can be so constructed that at the normal pressure all of the burners can be used at the same time while the bell will be suspended with the operating lever in the closed circuit position and when one or more burners are in use,

the mixture will be fed to them without blowing or escape of excess mixture by the intermittent operation of the source of pressure caused by the fluctuations of the bell, breaking and making the circuit, likewise when all burners are shut off the bell breaks the circuit at once by the pressure backing up in it.

Should for any reason the burners be burning when the circuit is broken, as above described, and remain broken after the mixture then contained within the bell is exhausted the burners will be extinguished and, if not then turned off, should the mixture be resupplied it will escape therethrough to the danger to the occupants of the building and liable to cause an explosion if coming in contact with a flame of any kind. To overcome and prevent absolutely this kind of an occurrence a supplemental operating lever link 11 is provided, preferably arranged within the container in the space between its inner wall and the bell 3 and guided for vertical movement.

This supplemental lever link 11 is in reality a connecting link between the operating lever 10 and a supplemental lever 12 pivot ally supported upon the bottom of the container with its free end, adapted to be engaged and depressed by .the bottom of the bell as it approaches its lowermost position or end of its downward movement. The upper free end of the/link 11 is provided with a withdrawable spring catch 13 adapted to engage under the operating lever 10 so that as the bell reaches the end of its downward movement the operating lever will be lifted to tilt the mercury t ube switch to break the circuit. With this construction whenever all the mixture is exhausted from within the bell the circuit is broken and the operating mechanism for supplying the mixture can not be actuated until the spring catch/ 13 is manually released. This is accomplished by withdrawing the pin 14 which passes through the upper portion of the link 11. normally held to engage the underside.

of lever 10 by the spring 13. The withdrawal of the pin allows the lever 10 to assume its lower position and complete the circuit while the leaf spring 13 is'of such 6 character as to allow the link 11 to descend by its weight and cause the catch to pass by the lever. The lower or closed circuitposition of lever 10 is illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2 and the details of the spring catch in Figure 3.

Figure 1 shows a form in which the posi-, tion of the bell is controlled by the pressure in the feed pipe 5 by accumulating within the bell 3 through pipe 4 as the mixture passes fromv the carburetor to" the burner and the mixture is only exhausted therefrom when the supply ceases while the burners are in use. Figure 2 shows the bell in its lowermost position with the operating lever held in its upper or circuit breaking position by the tilting of the supplemental lever 12 raising link 11. In this form all mixture passes from the carburetor 6 through pipe 15 to the interior of-the bell above the level of the liquid 2 and thence through pipe 16 to the burners.

When applied to a number of oil burners. supplied from a common electrically operated pump it is only necessary to substitute oil for water in the tank 1, the. inverted hell 3 acting as a float thereon, and provide the pipes 4 or 15 and 16, as the case may be, of such length that when the oil supply ceases from any cause the oil line in the tank will fall sufliciently to allow the bottom of the hell or float operate the lever 12 and upon excessive oil pressure the line will rise causing the top of the bell or float to operate the lever 10. It is therefore preferable to provide an air chamber 17 at the top of the bell 3 to insure that it will act as a float in an oil system and be employed with both gas and oil. 7

This device immediately indicates that the fuel supply has ceased from some unusual cause if a burner is turned on and fails 'to ignite, also that some burner was left turned on when the supply failed, and at the same time notifies the operator to inspect and close all burners before releasing the catch 13 to .start the operating mechanism.

The electric switch is preferably of the tilting mercur tube type and the one illustrat'ed herein is the preferred form of that type having a snap movement, such as described in detail and claimed in my prior pending applications Serial Nos. 583,916; 585,698; and 596,408, filed February 24, 1922; September 1, 1922; and October 23, 1922, respectively, and is shown herein with the operating lever pivoted-at one end to the casing of the switch and having a link 20 pivoted at one end thereto with a sliding connection at the other end with the operating member 21 of the snap movement by which the upward movement of the free end of the lever 10 extending through the casing and adapted to be raised by the bell or float 3 causes the mercury tube to be rocked tgthe limit of its movement in one direction and the exterior portion of the lever 10 is of suflicient weight when released from its uppermost position to rock the mercury tube to the limit of its movement in the other direction. As shown the commercial current enters the switch casing through leads 8 and 9 having flexible connections 22 to the two terminals 23 in the end of the mercury tube which is downmost when the lever 10 is in its downmost position, sothat the mercury in the tube will close the circuit through the terminals 23.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a fluid fuel plant having an electrically operated means for delivering the fuel from the source to the place of consumption, a delivery pipe therefor, a fluid tank having a connection to the delivery pipe, a float in said tank, an electric switch in the delivery means circuit, and means coacting therewith limiting the upward and downward movements of the float and actuating said switch at the limits of such'movemenfs to break the'circuit.

2. In a safety device of the character described, an electrically operated fluid fuel supply with a feed pipe leading therefrom to the place of consumption, an electric switch in the fuel supply circuit having an operating lever, a fluid container, a float therein having sides depending therefrom, a pipe leading from the feed pipe to within the depending sides of the float, said float arranged to engage the operating lever and break the circuit upon excessive upward movement resulting from excessive pressure in the feed pipe, and a supplemental operating lever connected to the switch operating lever adapted to be engaged by the depending sides of the float on excessive downward movement resulting from failure of -fl uid supply in the feed pipe to break. the

circuit.

3. In a fluid fuel plant having an electrically operated means for delivering fluid fuel from the source to the place of consumption, a delivery pipe therefor, a fluid tank having connection to the delivery pipe, a float therein, an electric switch in the delivery means circuit, means coacting therewith limiting the upward and downward movements of the float and actuating said switch at the limits of such movements to break the circuit, ad ditional means actuated by the downward movement of the float to maintain the switch in that position, and manually operated means adapted to release said additional means and allow the switch to return to closed position.

4. A safety device of the character described for a fluid fuel plant having an electrically operated means for deliverin the fluid fuel from the source to the place of consumption, a fuel delivery feed pipe leading from said means, an electric switch in the delivery means circuit having an operating lever, a fluid fuel container, an inverted bell floating therein, a pipe connecting the interior of the bell to the feed pipe, said bell float arranged to engage the operating lever 

